*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

Interesting shot of the panel.
Out of interest is this the lg Philips or ChiMei or AUO panel?

I received a AUO 1080p panel with kaby lake revision and returned it due to grainy screen and yellow tint and light bleed ( big disappointment).

Certainly wasn't upto the same standards as the 1080p panel I had in last years Alienware 17 1080p r3.

Although that said, if I had a choice I'd have a semi glossy panel anyday like on the ranger Alienware 17 3D 120hrtz panel from 2013.

 

There's a short point in the MB below ram slot.

 

Anyone know if the 17r4 will be getting a 120hz screen again and or a 1440p?
only option on the site currently is 1080 and 4k and both 300 nit.

thanks!

 

It does with the GTX1080, which for some reason only know to tell still don't seem to be able to get with a Kaby Lake CPU

 

Any speculation as to why that is ?

 

Because Dell are idiots.

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After having been QC raped by Dell three times in a row I just did the unthinkable...ordered an msi gt73vr which was on sale with kaby lake 7820hk. But I must admity that I kind of feels like i have just made a betrayal, despite having tried numerous times to by Alienware. Strange, should be furious with Dell and to some extent am! But there is still lure of getting that perfect aw17 r4 that actually works at it should....

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Alienware truly was a great contender in the past to gaming laptops, however in the most recent times it seems they repeatedly drop the ball and are riding on the wave of their past fame and reputation. I'm not entirely sure how long this wave will be as there are always uneducated masses but if things keep going the way they are, qc may continually drop among other services and the brand will be forever irrecoverable.

 

Sadly, the QC mess isn't only an AW problem, it is a Dell problem, so I'm guessing thats when this mess started. Just imagine what this mess must cost for Dell/AW in refunds, replacements, onsite visits, loss of sales due to bad PR etc. And must say that my trust for "certain AW spoke persons" have gone down as well, many promises but few that have been fulfilled.

That said, i'm still thinking if I should tear down my AW and do what Dell couldn't, but it just feels wrong that I as a customer should compensate for Dells shortcommings. And just looking at pictures of the GT73VR...its ugly as hell...


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I think THE GT73VR looks great. But it has a real plastic feeling to it compared to the Alienware. But you will on the other hand get a working computer.

 

Actually, if Aours was more represented in my (our) part of the world, I would probably have gotten that instead mostly based on looks. Have an earlier version and form a build and looks perspective, I believe it matches the AW. Such a shame Dell doesn't care enough about their customers to do a proper job...

 

Does anyone know if the Vindicator 2.0 Sleeve fits the 17 R4 and if so how tight is the fit? I've found mixed reports around the web, some stating that it's too small and some saying that it fits the laptop and the power brick.. Otherwise if you guys are using any other sleeves or smallish laptop bags (not looking for a backpack or big messenger bag) for this it would be great to know. Cheers!

 

I had the GS63VR for a week. It's rather cheap and flimsy. It's nice and thin and light but that's all I can give as a positive. So much bloat ware

 

Yes, thats what I am worried about. It seems like Alienware had an open goal this year but still fumbled and missed. I mean seriously, how hard can it be to fire up HWInfo just once on a produced machine and realize that "Houston, we have a problem here".

 

hello

Did someone have a icc profil for the 17R4 uhd (sharp model LQ173D1) please or what calibration device i need to buy

thanks

 

I don't own one myself, but I'd read in a few places it doesn't fit. Supposedly when you zip it up the corners stick out.

 

Yes the vindicator 2.0 sleeve fits the 17 R4. It is a perfect fit actually.

 

Hey everyone, over the last week or so I've noticed that my 17 R4 (6820HK/GTX1080) has been running hotter and hotter. Out of the box (3 weeks ago) I had pretty good temps, mid 60's to 70 deg C when playing Witcher 3 for a couple hours and now I'm getting thermal throttling (99degC) after only half an hour of gameplay. I have an undervolt of -0.150mV both times.. Does this mean the paste or thermal pads have been degrading inside the laptop?

Not sure if this is related, but the AlienFX tends to crash and stop responding, I get a pop up box saying that it could be either software or hardware and that I should restart or contact technical support.

Any help would be great, cheers!

 

Run Dell Diagnostics in BIOS.


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Cheers, I ran it and there were no errors.

 

If this amazing Tripod cpu heatsink does not have proper contact with the processor die will thermal paste dry out pretty fast and reduce the cooling capacity. This tripod cpu heatsink design, improper thickness of the thermal pad, Dell's *high end* thermal paste and incredibly poorly executed paste job is the gold standard for this failure.

 

Lol yeh maybe I can't escape the repaste after all, so there isn't anything else I can test before pulling everything apart? I don't even have anything to repaste with so I'm gona be stuck with a hot laptop for a few weeks :l

 

Must say I am seriously considering if I should repaste the damn thing myself, even though I strongly feel against it. Not for technical reasons, but because I think it is a joke do pay Dell big money and then have to do it yourself. Must say I am not really that positive about the GT73VR that is on its way, mainly because it is just so ugly. But I am probably going to use it mostly as a desktop replacement anyway so perhaps I can hide it

 

Sad because I've been eyeing this for a long time since its release, but the quality seems just as bad as the GT73VR. @Mobius 1 has one as well and said that the track pad gestures are affected when the laptop is on his lap due to it being so structurally weak where the pressure from his lap puts pressure on the under side of the track pad.

Crazy right?

I know right? They should hire Team LHz to do the QC. We'll make darn sure everything is on point.

That crap thermal stamp would have never slid through our QC test...no way...

I second this...it fits perfect.

To add....a tri-pod design with the CPU die that isn't even centered LOL....Brilliant.

A repaste is highly recommended anyway. Refer to the guide as it should give you good guidance.

Yea I hear ya... it's just one of those things. Stock you can have an okay machine if keeping everything stock, but doing a repaste is pretty much mandatory, regardless. It's like the oil in your new car. Most people would prefer the oil brand of their choice. I know I do....and would never rely on the stock OEM stuff.

 

The GS63 trackpad isn't affected on tracking when placed on lap / uneven surface. It's the trackpad click feel and travel distance.

Gestures work fine even if bent.

 

Perhaps one should considering getting a desktop instead, I guess most AW17 R4 owners won't do much power walking with it but mostly use it as a stationary desktop anyway. This whole "a mobile GPU is now as good as a desktop" made many forget about other shortcomings of gaming laptops. Of course, non of these should exist in a world with QC. Imagine if Apple made gaming laptops....although they would probably cost an arm

 

So, will a repaste actually solve the problems or is the heat sink fiasco so bad that no repasting in the world can solve a bad design job?

 

On a side note, something ironic. Despite the QHD 120 hz problems, when I compared it to the 4K screen in my Thinkpad P50, I would still choose the one in the Alienware every time. Brightness, viewing angels, graininess etc. is MUCH better even for productivity use. Crazy world.

Edit:
Actually, the TouchPad is probably better also and the keyboard in the AW17 isn't far from either.

 

the AW17-1080 is capped at 150w.

For your reference, a fully unlocked 1080 like the one I have will take 225w average when playing games on ultra settings at QHD/4K (the well optimized ones anyways).

Can improve temps.

What's the screen on P50? It isn't pentile is it?

 

Yes, another thing where the reality didn't live up to the real world from Alienware.

Not sure about the screen, the one I have (or rather had, returned it due to the awful sceen, many post on it on Lenovo forums) was the 4K version. Which was supposed to be the best one available. But still sucked

 

That should be the hype from Alienware, the edit function seem to be broken at the moment here..

 

Yes, but I guess it can do nothing for the problems with 20 degrees core diff and such? Are there any fixes for that?

 

My new favorite keyboard back lighting scheme. Finally got around to editing the AlienFX files to get white as an available color ... looks nice:

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Another shot from another camera...

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Just lovey ...



joel

 

Repasting will fix the core difference, as well as checking the thermal pads.


After repaste the core difference will drop to 5c at worst, usually much lower.

 

try source LQ156D1JW02 as it's claimed to be a 99% adobe rgb screen

I think it's from the M4800 precision

 

How do you get white as color?

 

Which screen did you go with BTW?

 

2560x1440 and 120Hz. Mine is a great screen, no banding or light bleed I really like it.

 

Hi,

I have a problem of performance with my AW17 R4.



Temp are high during copy of iso file (45Go) or in Lan transfert.

What can I do ?

I try to move SSD nvme from port 3 to 2 (more space for dissipation) but system can't boot. Windows try to repair boot nut can't.


Any idea ?

 

Hey guys, quick question: What do you use to clean the area around the track pad?

I have the unit for 3 days now, and I have a horrible batch of greasy type looking thing (maybe I put my wrist on it while cooking ).

 

Microfibre cloth works pretty well, just make tight circles with it and it cleans up pretty good. I saw someone post on here that lens cleaner also works but I haven't tried this myself.

 

what's the make and model of your 120Hz panel?

 

Sorry, how do I find out the make and model of the panel?

 

AIDA64

 

Cheers, I got the following info from AIDA64, let me know if its what you wanted..

Monitor ID: AUO1096
Manufacturer: WJGD4_B173QTN

 

I thought the uneven core temps were caused by the uneven heat sink, and that the paste affected all cores equally and thus didn't solve that problem although decreased the temps?

 

Perhaps due to the thickness of this laptop? Thinner the worse (NVMe ssd's is known for high heat and will throttle due this). I think low load on CPU/GPU won't trigger the fans so the heat can't be pulled out from the chassis. You will get ssd throttling in the end

 

Sorry double post. The edit don't work on the forum anymore.

@sarou Run 3-5 rounds ATTO Disk Benchmark v3.05 in a row and monitor max ssd temp with Hwinfo. Then post the whole results here

 

@sarou: When changing the nvme ssd from slot 1 to slot 2, ensure that its reconfigured in the BIOS( if you're sticking with RAID) which can be found in Advanced Tab > Intel RAID Options

 

you have to edit the theme file .ath (documents>AlienFX>Themes)
open the theme file (.ath) with WordPad and go down till you see

<ZoneID>1</ZoneID>
<ActionID>1</ActionID>
<ActionTypeID>15</ActionTypeID>
<Color1>#FFF00000</Color1>
<Color2>#FFFF9900</Color2>
<Duration>0</Duration>

and change the "Color 1" code to the withe color code . which is FFFFFFFF or to this because it worked for me FFFFFFF0
of course check the "ZoneID" in the alien software to change the zone you want .. also search for color codes if you prefer something else
after you finish editing turn the lights off and on.. or edit a zone then press apply in the software and it should work